Budget 2012: Council tax boost for forces

BRITAIN’S Armed Forces and their families emerged as Budget winners.

Thousands of soldiers will no longer have to pay council tax while deployed overseas. Their rate of tax relief is doubled to 100 per cent.

The families’ welfare grant has also been doubled and the Chancellor released what he described as an extra £100million to improve Forces accommodation.

Mr Osborne said he was able to fund the boosts thanks to the cost of operations in Afghanistan being £2.4billion lower than expected over the remainder of the parliament.

David Cameron has pledged that British Forces will end combat roles in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with the vast majority of troops expected to come home before then.

Critics argue that this means the numbers eligible for council tax relief while serving abroad is therefore likely to come down dramatically from the current level of 9,500 personnel serving six-month tours.

The council tax announcement is very welcome though the devil will be in the detail

A spokeswoman for the Army Families Federation

They also pointed out that Mr Osborne last year froze £140million earmarked for improving Forces accommodation due to the huge Government deficit.

The squalid state of many military quarters has been a scandal for years.

A spokeswoman for the Army Families Federation said: “On the surface all of this is very good news.

“The council tax announcement is very welcome though the devil will be in the detail.

“The money for the accommodation is a reinstatement of spending frozen – and it is not the full original £140million.”

Major Charles Heyman, editor of guidebook Armed Forces of the UK, said: “By and large it is good news. But it will not be the end of the morale problem due to the defence cuts.”